{"id":814909,"date":"2026-10-27T00:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T00:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814909\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T00:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T00:14:15","slug":"democracy-always-lula-vows-no-return-to-dictatorship-in-brazil-after-election-win-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814909\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Democracy always\u2019: Lula vows no return to dictatorship in Brazil after election win | Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a>, the Brazilian president, has vowed that dictatorship and fascism will never return to Brazil<\/a> after winning a historic fourth term<\/a> in power by defeating his far-right opponent, Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is God\u2019s work \u2013 and it\u2019s thanks to all of you,\u201d Lula told tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered in central S\u00e3o Paulo in the early hours of Monday to celebrate his dramatic election comeback.<\/p>\n

A few hours earlier, Lula pulled off the most stunning political fightback in modern Brazilian history, bouncing back from a first-round defeat<\/a> in early October to trounce Bolsonaro by more than 4m votes in the runoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a historic day,\u201d Lula declared, before telling a sea of elated supporters: \u201cDemocracy always, dictatorship never again. Democracy always, fascism never again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never, since the return of democracy after the 1964-85 military regime, had the first-round loser managed to win the second vote.<\/p>\n

But Lula did precisely that on Sunday, prompting joyous scenes on the streets of S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a> and cities all across Brazil. He won with 64.2m votes to Bolsonaro\u2019s 59.8m, a 51.79% to 48.21% victory. It was at least 10m more votes than Lula secured in the first round.<\/p>\n

While Bolsonaro initially refused to concede, his party acknowledged the election results on Monday, nearly a full day after Lula\u2019s win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the presidential \u200belection \u200bresults,\u201d Liberal party head Valdemar Costa \u200bNeto said. \u201cBut we \u200bbelieve \u200cthe issues \u200braised \u200bneed to be properly clarified.\u201c<\/p>\n

Chart showing increase in second-round voting<\/a><\/p>\n

Lula\u2019s health minister, Alexandre Padilha, told the Guardian shortly after the result was confirmed: \u201cThis is a huge victory for the Brazilian people who in the second round had the chance to think about what President Lula means for the environment, for the defence of our national health service and our education system and the Brazilian constitution. And the risks that the extreme right candidate entailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive victory \u2013 not just for Brazil. It\u2019s also an important signal to the rest of Latin America and to the world,\u201d Padilha said at the hotel where the president\u2019s team was following the count in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro rejected the result, following in the footsteps of his father, the former president Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, who refused to concede after losing the 2022 election to Lula and was later convicted of plotting a coup. He called Lula\u2019s victory \u201csacanagem\u201d, a Portuguese word that roughly translates as \u201cbullshit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"LulaLula re-elected for fourth term as Bolsonaro refuses to accept Brazil election result \u2013 video<\/p>\n

The US administration had been rooting for a Bolsonaro victory that would have seen the pro-Donald Trump so-called \u201corange wave\u201d continue its sweep across the region into Latin America\u2019s largest democracy. Trump took almost 24 hours to comment and, on Monday, appeared to endorse Bolsonaro\u2019s claim when asked about Brazil\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked terrible to me. I thought it was a terrible look. I didn\u2019t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly,\u201d the US president said.<\/p>\n

When asked if he intended to do anything in response, Trump said: \u201cWell, I\u2019m not running Brazil. I\u2019m running the USA. And I just thought that the election was \u2013 I like Lula. I get along with him very well. I just think it had a very bad look, the election, the way it was tabulated. The extension given was very strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other leaders and governments from across the political spectrum were quicker to recognise Lula\u2019s victory. Mexico\u2019s leftwing president, Claudia Sheinbaum, tweeted: \u201cLong live democracy, the people of Brazil won.\u201d Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, wrote: \u201cThe global progressive resurgence has just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, called Lula\u2019s victory \u201ca historic win for the global progressive movement\u201d and said his government looked forward to continuing to collaborate on \u201cshared values of democracy, social justice and climate action\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rightwing South American leaders also recognised Lula\u2019s victory, with Chile\u2019s president, Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast, calling Lula to offer congratulations and Peru\u2019s president, Keiko Fujimori, saluting \u201cthe Brazilian people for this democratic day\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lula supporters celebrate in S\u00e3o Paulo. Photograph: Sebasti\u00e3o Moreira\/EPA<\/p>\n

Even Colombia\u2019s far-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella \u2013 who had publicly backed Bolsonaro and appeared in a recent live broadcast with him on social media \u2013 acknowledged Lula\u2019s win, tweeting: \u201cWhen the people decide at the ballot box, their will is respected because it is sacred. That\u2019s what democracy is all about!\u201d<\/p>\n

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said: \u201cDemocracy and multilateralism have won in Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for China\u2019s foreign ministry said: \u201cChina respects the choice of the Brazilian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Trump, one of the few powerful international voices of dissent was Elon Musk, who claimed the \u201cmath doesn\u2019t add up\u201d for Lula\u2019s comeback, ignoring the fact that it did because of the historically low level of abstention in the second round.<\/p>\n

\"Brazil:Brazil: how did Lula beat far-right Bolsonaro? | The Latest<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to Sunday\u2019s vote, the US had been accused of seeking to influence the result through a campaign of economic and diplomatic pressure. Erika Hilton, a transgender lawmaker who recently became the most voted-for woman in Brazil\u2019s congress, said those efforts had failed. \u201cWe have defeated the interference of the US government, which thought it could turn our country into its back yard. Brazil and the Brazilians are too gigantic to be anybody\u2019s back yard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lula\u2019s victory will also have profound consequences for the environment and the Amazon rainforest in what is the world\u2019s most biodiverse nation. On the eve of the vote, the former environment minister Marina Silva had warned<\/a> that Bolsonaro, if elected, would seek to finish the \u201cperverse project\u201d of rainforest destruction started by his father, whose 2019-22 administration coincided with a surge in deforestation.<\/p>\n

On Sunday night, Silva was in a buoyant mood, telling the Guardian: \u201cMy heart is happy and filled with gratitude to God and the Brazilian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some suspect Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro is now likely to flee to the US when his senate term runs out in February. Photograph: Adriano Machado\/Reuters<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe thing I most feared was that our Indigenous territories would be invaded again [under another Bolsonaro government]. Now, I am certain that they will be preserved and that there is no risk of illegal miners returning to destroy these populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro<\/a>, the future looks bleak. As the scale of Lula\u2019s victory became clear on Sunday night, the mood at the Bras\u00edlia mansion where Bolsonaro was watching the count soured, with what had initially resembled a lively birthday party turning into something closer to a wake. Like football supporters heading for the exits midway through the second half because their team was being thrashed, crestfallen guests began heading home.<\/p>\n

Map of Brazil election results marked in tints of red and blue<\/a><\/p>\n

One of them approached the dozens of journalists waiting for Bolsonaro\u2019s speech to shout that it was the \u201cnorth-east\u2019s fault\u201d, insulting the region where Lula has historically won most of his votes.<\/p>\n

One photograph<\/a> circulated by Lula supporters showed a dejected Bolsonaro in tears, although it had been taken on the eve of the vote. Another image<\/a> showed a red-faced Bolsonaro flanked by visibly mortified allies as they came to terms with their defeat. S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s pro-Bolsonaro governor, Tarc\u00edsio de Freitas, sat next to him covering his face with his hand.<\/p>\n

On Paulista Avenue, where huge crowds had gathered to hear Lula speak, one reveller wore a costume of Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro behind bars. Some suspect the senator is likely to flee the country to the US once his term runs out in February and he loses parliamentary immunity. Bolsonaro is facing a series of federal police investigations over suspected misdeeds including money laundering, although he maintains he is innocent.<\/p>\n

Lula supporters delighted in the idea that the far-right politician may soon join his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence for his coup attempt, in jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, how awful! Poor little thing!\u201d Jo\u00e3o Maluf, a 27-year-old psychologist, shouted sarcastically as he held up his mobile phone to the crowd to show them a photograph of a visibly distraught Bolsonaro. \u201cWe want rid of these fucking Bolsonaros,\u201d Maluf said.<\/p>\n